Soap dispenser



p 9, 1940- A. T. DE SIPIO ET AL I 2,196,356

SOAP DISPENSER Filed Jan. 6, 1939 17 MINE 2 nven i'gr Anthony 71 DQ54 150. Jofub BOILOZIIOVGJIUQL. Joules J. 12

Patented Apr. 9, 19,40

SOAP DISPENSER Anthony T. De Sipio, James J. Ricci,

John Bongiovanni, and Philadelphia, Pa.

Application January 6, 1939, Serial No. 249,648

'7 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved soap dispenser.

An object of the invention is to provide a unit embodying a container and bracket which may 5 be manufactured and sold cheaply or, if desired, given away as a premium, to promote the use of anyparticular make or brand of soap.

A further object of the invention is to provide a complemental bracket and container so that once the unit is acquired, the construction of the bracket will dictate the purchase of new soap containers" of a character identical with the original acquisition-or gift; thus to promote the saleof say a particular brand of soap.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a'bracket which may be readily installed for use, as, for instance, over a kitchen sink, and wherein a new soap contain-er. when the old is exhausted, may be quickly and easily substituted.

A further object of the invention is to provide a unit wherein the container, "when positioned upon the bracket, may be manually rotated to effect the discharge of a soap powder from the container, wherein a retaining ring will be proi vided for the container to support the same against accidental angular dislocation, and wherein means on said ring will be provided to furnish a slight but tangible frictional brake holding the container against turning movement so that the container will not rotatably work open, as by vibration, to waste'the soap powder. And the invention seeks, as a still further object, to provide a unit wherein the container will embody a chamber providing a bank for pennies 13 or the like, so that a housewife may save, as she uses the soap powder, the price of another container of soap, and wherein the bracket will be provided with a bottle cap remover, thus to add to the domestic desirability of the device.

Other and incidental objects of the invention will appear during the course of the following description and in the drawing:

Figure 1 is aperspective view of our improved soap dispenser, showing the device erected over .a conventional kitchen sink.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view on the line 22 of Figure '1.

Figure3 is a plan View of the blank from which the container bracket is formed.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, it"will be seen, from Figure 3, that we originally stamp or otherwise form a blank of suitable resilient sheet metal, which blank comprises an elongated rectangular shank A at one end of which is an annulus B on which, at its inner periphery, are left tabs C while near the lower end of the shank is stamped a tongue D. Thus,

as will be appreciated, the blank may be produced flat at a singleoperation.

The shank A described is bent near its upper end, as shown in Figure 1, at a right angle to provide a back plate I!) and an arm I I supporting a retaining ring 12 while the tabs C are bent downwardly and inwardly to provide spring tongues I3 equally spaced about the ring and, if so desired, the free ends of these tonguesmay be dished or curved to engage flat against a circular surface. The tongue I) is, as shown in Figure .1, bent outwardly on an are at its free endv portion to provide a hook l4, so that the cap of a. bottle may be, as will be well understood, engaged beneath the free extremity of said hook for removing the cap. I

Fixed to the back plate ID or, if preferred, in-; tegrally formed thereon, is a clamp preferably formed from a strip of suitable resilient sheet metal and comprising a pair of converging arms l5 joined by a straight connecting portion 16 riveted or otherwise fixed to the back plate. At the free ends of the arms are parallel jaws l1 having mating semi-circular collar-portions l8 beyond which are provided straight confronting lugs I9 apertured to removably receive a clamping bolt 20 preferably provided with a suitable wing nut for manual adjustment.

,As will thus be perceived, the original blank is fashioned, in conjunction with the clamp described, to provide a supporting bracket and this bracket maybe installed in any location desired. In Figure 1, we have :shownthe bracket erected over a conventional kitchen sink by suitable screws engaged through proper openings provided near the ends of the back plate l0. 'In conjunction with the supporting bracket, we provide a cylindrical container 2|, the circular wall of which, if so desired, may be of cardboard or like material but, preferably, said container will, to fulfillthe exigencies of strength and convenience of manufacture, be provided with a metal top'wall 22 as well as a metal bottom wall 23, in the latter of which is formed a slot 24 adapted to accommodate a penny, nickel or other piece of money. Suitably fixed within the cylindentations, scores or the like, or, in fact, if preferred, actual slots 26.

As will be perceived, a money chamber 21 or bank is thus provided between the walls 23 and 25 and, of course, money may be deposited in said chamber through the slot 24, while, when so desired, the contents of the chamber may be emptied simply by tearing or severing the cylindrical wall of the container 2| at the indentations 26.

Suitably fixed in the end wall 22 of the container, centrally thereof, is a discharge neck 23 provided in the end wall thereof with one or more discharge openings, and rotatably fitting over said neck as well as appropriately secured thereto is a closure cap 29 having one or more discharge openings adapted, upon rotation of the cap or the container while the cap is held stationary, to be brought into register with the discharge openings of the neck. For convenience, the openings of both the neck and cap are indicated at 39.

The container is, of course, filled with a suitable soap powder and it is now to be observed that said container is of a diameter to be freely received through the retaining ring [2, in inverted position, supported by the arms l5 of the bracket. As will be observed, the collar-portions !8 of the jaws H are of a radius to snugly engage about the cap 29 of the container and, of course, the wing nut of the bolt 20 may be adjusted to tightly clamp said cap stationary.

Thus, as will now be seen, the upper end of the container may be grasped for rotating the container first, in one direction, to the open position of the cap 29 to permit the gravitational discharge of the soap powder from the container, and then, in the opposite direction, to close the container. As will be perceived, this is a very simple and convenient arrangement and will not only tend toward expediency but also, in the long run, an actual saving of soap powder, as compared with present methods of slitting a soap box and discharging the powder therefrom into a sink by flirting the box indiscriminatingly toward the sink.

In this connection, it is to be noted that the tongues I3 will exert a braking action on the container tending to hold said container against rotation. This braking action of the tongues is intended not to hamper noticeably, the manual rotation of the container but to exert only a soft and gentle frictional drag against the container such as will obviate indecision as to whether the container is open or shut. Furthermore, the braking action of said tongues will be only such as to prevent accidental rotation of the container to waste the soap powder. However, it is to be noted that only a container of given diameter may be accomodated through the ring !2 to thus determine a given container for the bracket, while also, the ring will prevent accidental dislocation, angularly, of the container such as might fracture or bind the cap 29.

The tongues l3 will, of course, accommodate any slight angular disposition of the container from the vertical so that the container may turn free and this is important as, in a container of inexpensive manufacture, it may sometimes happen that the cap, for one reason or another, is not mounted exactly concentric to the axis of the neck 2.) or the axis of the container with resultant slight tilting of the container when the cap is clamped in the jaw-portions l8. For any such slight tilting of the container, the tongues will compensate, as stated, so that any hard spot in the rotation of the container will be avoided.

As the soap powder is used from the container, coins may be dropped through the slot 24 into the chamber 2? so that by the time one container is exhausted, funds will be saved to buy another.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. A soap dispenser including a bracket having a projecting clamp and a retaining element above said clamp, and a container rotatably retained by said element and supported by said clamp for turning movement to open or closed positions.

2. A soap dispenser including a bracket embodying a clamp for the cap of a container and a retaining element above said clamp, and a container having a rotatable closure cap and inverted on said bracket to be engaged by the cap thereof by said clamp for holding the cap stationary and retained by said element, the container being rotatable to open or closed positions.

3. A soap dispenser including a bracket embodying a clamp for the cap of a container and a retaining ring above said cap, and a container having a rotatable closure cap and inverted on said bracket to fit through said ring engaged by the cap thereof by said clamp for holding the cap stationary, the container being rotatable to open or closed positions.

4. A soap dispenser including a bracket embodying a clamp for the cap of a container and a retaining ring above said clamp provided with tongue, and a container having a rotatable closure cap and inverted on said bracket to fit through said ring engaged by the cap thereof by said clamp for holding the cap stationary, the container being rotatable to open or closed positions and being frictionally engaged by ,said tongue to exert a braking action on the rotation thereof.

5. A soap dispenser including a bracket having a back plate provided with an arm terminating in a retaining ring having a depending tongue, a clamp projecting from the back plate below said ring, and an inverted container received through said ring and having a rotatable closure cap r gripped by said clamp to be held stationary thereby, the container being rotatable to open or closed positions and the tongue frictionally coasting with the container to exert a braking action against the free rotation thereof.

6. A soap dispenser including a bracket formed from a metal strip bent to provide a back plate provided at one end with an overhanging retaining ring having spaced yieldable centering tongues thereon, a clamp carried by the back plate below said ring, and an inverted container fitting through said ring to be engaged frictionally by said tongues and provided with a rotatable closure cap engaged with and held stationary by said clamp, the container being rotatable to open or closed positions.

'7. A soap dispenser including a bracket comprising a clamp and a retaining ring overhanging said clamp and provided with yieldable braking means thereon, and an inverted container fitting through said ring to be frictionally engaged by said means and provided with a rotatable closure cap engaged with and held stationary by said clamp, the container being rotatable to open or closed positions.

ANTHONY T. DE SIPIO. JOHN BONGIOVANNI. JAMES J. E1001. 

